


ghosts & skeletons - reddie

by halflander



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-01-30 09:15:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 16,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21425812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halflander/pseuds/halflander
Summary: everything seems okay, but eddie has a secret and richie is living with a ghost named stanley.» lowercase intended.» has a bit of stenbrough.» contains strong language.» weekly updates.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough & Stanley Uris, Bill Denbrough/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 12
Kudos: 25





	1. ghost alarm clocks are very annoying.

_ **[RICHIE]** _

_ **september 2, 1991** _

richie tozier was having a nice dream, an occurrence that hadn't happened very often ever since he nearly died at the hands of a fucking clown. in the dream, he was just biking around derry, feeling free, and for some odd reason, eddie was there.

it had been the most soothing dream the boy had ever had, which is why he was extremely pissed off when he was rudely awoken.

"richie, wake the hell up, or I swear I'll throw a glass of water to your face."

"you evil motherfucker," richie grumbled as his eyes adjusted to the light streaming in his window which had been covered by curtains seconds ago. he fumbled for a pillow and threw it to the last place he had heard the voice come from. "why do you even bother to wake me up."

"why do you even bother to throw a pillow at me when you know it can't touch me."

"ok, you might have a point, but honestly, fuck you."

•

the walk to school was uneventful, but richie was preoccupied that his sophomore year might be hell. he reached the building that was the same as always, upperclassmen everywhere with their stuck-up expressions and freshmen trying to find their lockers and classrooms desperately, not caring about the means they had to implement to do so.

by the time richie found his locker, he had managed to collide into a dozen freshmen and had barely escaped from bumping into bowers and his gang. in the sea of stressed people, he managed to find a familiar face, eddie kaspbrak's, who stood only two lockers away from him.

richie sneaked up behind the boy and whispered "boo" in his ear, making eddie jump.

"you idiot! you know that if you keep doing that you're going to make me have a heart attack someday and then i'll die, and it's totally going to be your fault and-"

"it's nice to see you too, eddie"

"oh no, you don't get to say that after trying to scare the shit out of me."

"whatever, you probably missed me a lot, I know your mom did."

eddie stopped putting his bajillion pills into the locker to turn around and frown at richie. "why are you like this."

"it's a gift."

before eddie had a chance to scoff at that, beverly appeared right next to him, hand-in-hand with ben. "hi guys, have any of you seen bill?"

"no, but it sure is nice to see both of you. I haven't seen you in a month!"

it was true that the loser's club members hadn't seen each other in a long time since they all went to do their own things. richie had spent all summer at the arcade, playing street fighter over and over, and ended up staying inside all summer.

he hadn't been the only one who hadn't received a drop of sunlight since eddie had been inside his house those warm months. his mother didn't let him go outside for over an hour, even with sunscreen on, for the fear that he might get sunburnt. eddie now was an expert at solitaire, scrabble and monopoly since he had played them too many times for it to be possible. he also now knew Back to the Future by heart, which was something he'd never use in his life. at one point he had gotten so bored that he tried to learn russian but only ended up learning cyrillic. at least something's something, right?

meanwhile, beverly, ben, bill and mike had been much more outdoorsy, but bill started showing up less and less, making mike the third wheel, so he eventually stopped hanging out with them as well.

thankfully (or awfully) for richie, school was back in session meaning that the six of them were forced to spend six hours daily in the same building, something that usually helps you connect with people since all they do is complain about it, and all students can relate.

•

after the most boring history, biology and english lessons in existence, richie was ready to leave the fucking hell hole he was currently in, but he had lunch, probably the only reason why he had stayed. he found ben, beverly and eddie at a table but he hadn't seen either mike or bill all day. mike was still homeschooled, which is why richie didn't worry about it, but bill? who the fuck knows what happened to him! he had drifted away over the summer, and now he didn't even show up at school? something must've happened to him, but no one had a clue to what.

beverly was attempting to make small talk as he sat down, asking about how their classes had been that day. she must've regretted it because it sent eddie into a rant.

"why is it called health class if the dummies you're supposed to do CPR on were so unsanitary? it's like they want us to catch diseases and die before graduation!"

richie, knowing that he was about to make eddie madder, smiled slyly before saying "if you hate the dummies so much, why don't you just perform CPR on me."

"richie, do you even know how absolutely disgusting you are? you probably carry more germs than an infected sewer rat, and the reason you use dummies is that you can break ribs performing CPR."

richie just snorted upon hearing those words. "I highly doubt you can break one of my ribs, let alone crush a bug."

"oh, you'd be surprised to know how easily I can break your nose," eddie raised a fist, and at that moment, beverly decided to intervene.

"since no one has seen bill, I suggest we should look for him, does anyone volunteer to search today?"

"oh, I'll definitely do it, my mother has a friend over who's the definition of a walking toad. she is also the devil, so I can't go home" eddie said, surprising everyone. he usually was the last to volunteer because he was either worried about his mom or the health risks it would entail. richie supposed looking for bill isn't a dangerous job, he's probably just at his house.

the bell rang, indicating it was time to go to class, so he and eddie headed to their math classroom. it was the first class of the year, and the teacher was droning on and on about rules. his voice was so monotonous, richie actually fell asleep at one point, and was only woken up when the final bell rang, and he was finally free.

when richie reached his house, he just threw himself on his bed and stared at the ceiling. of course, that's when he decided it was time to annoy richie.

"come on, richie, you have to do your homework."

"no, go away staniel."

"that's not my name, you absolute bitch."

"fuck you."

"I love you too. so, how was your day?" stan said, sitting next to richie and throwing a pillow at his head.

"you sound like my mother" richie informed him while trying to catch it but failing miserably, so it hits him on the face and nearly falls off his bed."

"well... just tell me about your day!"

"fine. it was boring."

"is boring as talking to me?"

"you wouldn't think so but talking to a fucking boy who died two years ago is actually not as boring as english"

"but you're good at english; you love reading and writing!"

richie scoffed at that. "that's where you're wrong, staniel. I love rewriting stupid things and making them better, like the bible or romeo and juliet, but I don't like to write essays about the oxford comma or how william shakespeare's plays are works of art and not things to mock."

"well, I'm going to leave you alone now, goodbye, you are boring me."

"where the hell do you have to go? you don't even have any friends!"

"that's rude. I am now abandoning you because of your meanness."

"stuck up ghost" richie muttered under his breath as stan left his room.

"I heard that!"


	2. in the end, eddie did get spiders in his hair.

_ **[EDDIE]** _

_ **september 2, 1991** _

eddie kicked a small rock down the street as he made his way over to bill's. it had been a tiring and stressful day and he was not going to go back to his house. he would get in trouble, yes, but he didn't care, he would do anything not to see the devilish woman in his house.

the day had started off well, because when he got to school the first person who he saw was richie, and although he would never like to admit this to him, he made eddie happy. eddie told himself that he was going to do well this year and that he would concentrate. when math rolled around, eddie found it hard to pay attention since the teacher had an awful voice that made you want to sleep and freaking richie was in his class.

"fuck,"eddie had thought when the bell rang. he hadn't heard an absolute word his teacher had said since he was a little distracted. richie had been sitting in the seat next to him and fell asleep at one point so all eddie could do was stare.

why he had done that, eddie didn't know, but what he did was that he would need to concentrate in math that year and that richie tozier was ruining his plans already, without even knowing them.

eddie finally reached bill's house but he wasn't there. the house was completely empty. bill must be at the clubhouse because if he wasn't, eddie would have no clue to where to find him. while he was walking, he passed richie's house absentmindedly. there were two routes to the clubhouse from bill's house and eddie's subconscious decided to take the longer route, just to see him. as he passed by the outside, he could hear richie talking to someone in his room. weird, since he was supposed to be home alone and neither ben, beverly or mike were free today. he heard richie call the person stan, which couldn't be possible because stan was dead. it might be bill so eddie walked up the steps and knocked on the door.

"if it's anyone I know, come in!" richie yelled from his room and eddie sighed as he went up to richie's room. he was sprawled on his bed, staring at the ceiling, and no one else was there.

"um, hi richie, I was just wondering if you've seen bill anywhere? I'm supposed to be looking for him and he wasn't at his house"

"dude, I haven't seen him in months. I spent my whole summer playing street fighter at the arcade. also, on that note, I don't have any money now, can you lend me some?"

eddie scoffed at those words, because god, he was such an idiot. "I won't give you the money that I've carefully saved, go get a job you loser"

"asshole"

"well, do you want to help me search for bill?"

"I can't," richie stood up and started combing his hair. "thanks to your wonderful suggestion, I'm going to get a job"

"wait, what? are you actually listening to me for once?"

"I mean, it's a good idea, I need money"

eddie said goodbye to him and walked out of the house very confused. first of all, there was no one but richie at his house and eddie was sure he had heard more than one voice. second of all, richie actually listened to his advice and was trying to get a job, which was extremely weird.

eddie resumed his quest to find bill, and after walking for quite a bit, he reached the clubhouse. it looked different, someone had fixed it up and actually cleaned it. That wasn't the thing that eddie was looking at, for he had finally found bill, sitting on a wooden box, staring at the walls.

"what are you doing here?" eddie asked him, and bill turned around, startled to see him.

"n-nothing, I w-was just c-cleaning"

eddie decided not to mention that it was what stan would do back when they started using the clubhouse. he remembered the time first he brought the shower caps. richie had told stan that it was a stupid idea and then looked at the rest of the kids put them on. eddie quickly pulled his off when he had heard those words, even if he was scared of the spiders that might get in his hair.

"where have you been all summer? you also didn't show up today at school! we're all worried about you which is why I'm here!"

"I-I'm h-h-here, aren't I? I've b-been here all s-summer"

"why?"

"I-I m-miss him"

eddie knew he was talking about stan. bill and richie had both been devastated by his death two years back but bill still wasn't over it. it was like he had gotten worse over the past couple of months, distancing himself away from everyone.

see, bill felt truly alone. georgie was gone, his parents would hardly talk to him and then stan, the only person who bill felt understood, was gone. but eddie didn't know that, so he could only assume.

"we know you do. but we miss you, I mean, I haven't seen you since summer vacations started and that was months ago! please, come to school tomorrow, you still have us and we losers need to stick together"

"m-maybe I w-will" bill finally smiled for the first time in what seemed an eternity. he had reached the lowest point in his life. he had been hiding at the clubhouse all summer, cleaning it up, doing anything to remember him. it had been so long since he had actually spoken, he had been quiet ever since school ended. he didn't even talk to his parents, who did a marvellous job of barely acknowledging his existence, they just left him meals and notes saying when they would leave and when they would come back.

eddie was satisfied with bill's response. maybe he would actually show up tomorrow and everything would go back to the way things were. yet, he couldn't keep something out of his mind.

_who had been in richie's room? and why had they been talking about stan?_


	3. richie tozier gets a job.

_ **[RICHIE]** _

_ **september 3, 1991** _

richie woke up dripping wet because someone had decided to throw a glass of water at him.

"stanley, I will murder you"

"you can't, I'm already dead"

"is this how every morning will go?"

"yes, now get out of your bed, lazy fuck"

"I hate you so much now" richie muttered under his breath but stanley heard him and laughed.

•

when richie arrived at his lunch table, he saw bill sitting with the rest of the losers. needless to say, he wasn't surprised because eddie could convince anyone to do anything.

"well hello there billiam," richie said as he sat down between him and eddie. "it's been quite a while, even I was worried"

"n-nice to s-see you mi-missed me, r-richie. I d-didn't miss the n-nicknames th-though"

"come on, billiam is absolutely wonderful, it suits you perfectly, right eds?"

"don't you dare call me that, richie" eddie said with a menacing glare that scared absolutely no one.

"eds, eds, eds."

"motherfucker"

"see, I agree with that, your mom last ni-"

"shut the fuck up, richie"

"sure, eddie spaghetti"

"oh that's even worse"

beverly snickered. "it's like watching an old married couple"

"no it's not!" both of them said defensively at the same time.

"see, you even talk at the same time"

richie threw a spoonful of mashed potatoes at beverly.

"christ richie, I'll get you back for that one"

"yeah, I'd like to see you try bev"

"you'll regret this richie" she said and left their lunch table.

•

it was math again and richie couldn't concentrate when eddie was sitting right there next to him, he never could. math had always been fairly easy for him which was an awesome thing since he was also great at not listening to their math teacher. how could anyone so boring turn into a math teacher? it's like they choose the dullest people for the job, so they can bore the students to death.

but that day, richie was prepared. he wasn't going to listen to dullman drone about equations all fucking day. no, he was going to listen to music. he had brought his walkman and he just started to play master of puppets by metallica a million times. it's not like dullman would even notice him, as he was sat in the far corner of the classroom.

at one point, eddie told richie to lower the volume since he could hear kirk hammett's loud guitar from his seat and richie just flipped him off and turned the volume up. yes, at this rate he was going to be deaf before graduation but he didn't care, as long as he could annoy eddie.

when the bell rang, richie didn't hear it so eddie hit his head lightly so could notice that everyone was leaving.

"thanks, eds"

"don't call me that"

"whatever you say eds"

•

today was richie's first day at his new job which he thought was extremely boring. he was going to work four days a week after school at the grocery store close to eddie's house because that was the only job he had bothered to look for the day before. yes, it was extremely stupid, since it wasn't near his home but he could bike to it easily. he definitely didn't do it so he could see eddie as much as possible.

by the time it was five, richie was already dying of boredom. hardly anyone came in since it was a small town and people usually do their shopping in the morning. he had nearly dozed off when he heard some voices that were vaguely familiar.

"come on eddie, it'll be fun, I promise, and it'll look great on you"

richie recognized beverly's voice instantly and started to listen because what could she be up to now? he could hear their voices but they were too low, they had probably gone to an aisle that was far away from the cash register. richie was about to die of curiosity when they suddenly appeared in front of him, probably suprised to see him there.

"richie, what are you doing here?"

"nothing, just working. this is the new job I managed to get yesterday"

"interesting, I never thought you'd get a job, you're such a lazy slob. now, we'd like to make a purchase" beverly said, setting a bottle of white nail polish on the counter.

"that would be eight dollars," richie said, waiting to be paid but none of them gave him the money. "come on, which of you is going to pay"

"I don't have any money" eddie shrugged and beverly did the same.

"wait, you're telling me that you came to buy stuff but none of you brought any money?" beverly nodded again upon hearing richie's words and eddie just had a sorry expression on his face. "fine, I'll pay it for you, now go away before I regret this"

"thanks 'chee," eddie said, kissing richie's forehead (while the boy was trying not to blush profusely) and grabbing the white bottle before leaving with beverly.

richie sighed, thinking it was definetley worth losing eight dollars for that. richie was absolutely in love with eddie but he wasn't ready to admit that to himself yet.

richie desperately looked at the clock. it was 5:15, meaning that he still had 45 minutes left of absolute torture. he reminded himself that the reason that he was putting up with this was to be able to buy an electric guitar. richie had chosen the one he wanted, it was a black fender that cost exactly 312 dollars at the pawnshop in derry.

richie had calculated everything carefully. he was working 12 hours a week at a minimum wage which was 4.25 per hour. that meant he gained 51 dollars a week and in two months he would finally have enough money to buy the guitar. that is, if he stopped playing street fighter.

richie ran out of money halfway through the summer so he began stealing some from his father. he couldn't risk to keep on doing it because his father might be an idiot but everyone notices when 100 dollars disappear out of thin air.

_ **guitar funds: -8.00** _


	4. richie loves metallica as much as not working.

** _[EDDIE]_ **

** _september 6, 1991_ **

_"why did I do it? why did I have to go and kiss him on the forehead? the only thing more obvious would be yelling that I had a crush on him"_ eddie thought to himself. he quickly discarded those thoughts because edward kaspbrak was most certainly, above all else, not gay. richie was just his favourite person in the entire world who made him feel butterflies in his stomach all the time, which is something that happens to everyone, right?

_"it's also very normal to blush when they compliment you"_ eddie assured to himself, thinking about how he had turned beetroot red when richie had complimented the white nails beverly had painted for him. it had been awful to hide his nails from his mother but eddie was sure it was all worth it when richie had said those words.

that tuesday had been a great day and definitely eddie's favourite birthday.

yet, today was friday, a different day.

bill had come to school the entire week, proving that eddie wasn't bad at convincing people to do things. today he was going to bill's house and eddie planned on doing nothing except lay on the floor all afternoon. of course, that is not how things turned out.

mike had gone to bill's too and they both decided to play truth or dare. what a fucking great idea it must surely be. it had started out simply with stupid truth questions like "what's the stupidest thing you've ever done" and dares like "drink water mixed with salt" but then evolved to two devilish teenage boys trying to pry secrets out of the poor edward kaspbrak.

by the time eddie was refusing to talk, they already already knew about the time he had pissed his pants in first grade, how terrified he was of his mother and how he nearly blinded himself for staring at a flashlight for too long.

"fine, you know what, I'm going to choose dare"

bill and mike just made weird gestures at each other, probably deciding what to do until bill finally said; "we dare you to hang out with richie all afternoon"

"what the actual fuck?" eddie yelled at them after they picked him up, brought him outside the house and locked the door, leaving him alone. "I hate you"

eddie grabbed his bike and made his way to the grocery store, where he found richie sitting with his feet on the counter, eating a bag of chips and listening to metallica so loudly on his walkman that eddie could hear enter sandman being played from where he was standing.

"say your prayers little one, don't forget, my son, to include everyone," richie was singing while imitating a guitar. "tuck you in, warm within, keep you free from sin, 'till the sandman he comes" he stopped to eat a chip and eddie couldn't help but wonder, why had did he make him feel stupid butterflies? he was such an idiot but eddie couldn't stay away from him, even if he wanted to.

"sleep with one eye open, gripping your pillow tight, eeeeeeexit light-"

eddie lifted one of his earphones and whispered "boo" and richie promptly fell out of his chair.

"fUCK!"

eddie just laughed at him and richie glared at him from the floor.

"what are you doing here, eds?"

"don't call me that," eddie frowned and richie just stuck his tongue out. "I'm just here cause bill and mike dared me to"

"well, thank satan they did, since I'm bored to death, this job is killing me. at least I'll be able to by myself a guitar soon"

"wait, you want a guitar?"

"yeah, that's why I got this awful job"

"can't say you're very good at it," eddie said, pointing at the bag of chips that richie had been eating "you're eating everything"

"not everything, and these are discounted from my end-of-the-month payment, although I can still shoplift when it's not my shift"

"jesus, richie, why are you like this"

a customer entered and richie had to actually work until they left. eddie was walking down the aisles, bored while he couldn't talk to his friend.

"hey dude, when's your birthday?" richie asked after a while, just for kicks.

"september 3rd"

"wait, as in, last tuesday?"

"what the actual fuck eds, how didn't you tell anyone? also, are you older than me?"

"I didn't tell anyone because it isn't of importance and I'm younger than you since I skipped a year, I was born in 1976, 'chee"

"that actually makes sense. the second thing I mean, the first one is total bullshit, when my shift is over we're going to go somewhere to celebrate it"

"I'm not going to regret this, am I?"

"that's what your mom said-"

"oh no, I am already regretting it"

richie was silent for the next seven minutes, until the clock struck 7. he grabbed eddie's hand, a bag of candy, his walkman and yelled "RUN!"

they got onto their bikes and pedaled until they reached the quarry, where richie collapsed into the ground and eddie fell next to him, inhaler forgotten.

"what the fuck did you do back there"

"well eds, since my shift ended, I technically stole the candy"

"oh my fucking god-"

"just shut up and enjoy the moment, the sun is setting and it's absolutely beautiful"

richie was right, the sight was mesmerizing, with the sun setting and its warm ember rays bathing the beautiful boy next to him, making him look even prettier. before eddie knew it, he had already fallen asleep on richie's shoulder, too tired to freak out about the health risks he may run under or the fact that he was actually laying against richie.

richie tozier wasn't a person who could stay still for long periods of time and even though he tried, when he moved his foot just an inch to be more comfortable, eddie woke up. richie hadn't noticed yet and was running his fingers gently through his hair, and it was at this point that eddie realized that he was absolutely smitten.


	5. street fighter or skateboarding, neither are good ideas.

_ **[RICHIE]** _

_ **september 7, 1991** _

stan was too melodramatic for his own good. it had turned out that stan's favourite hobby was torturing richie into his senses in the mornings, something that he had a knack for, yet richie despised. he had different creative ways and he would try them whenever richie's dad wasn't home or awake, which was pretty often. it happened most of the time really but richie had gotten over it, maybe even welcomed it. yes, it was sad, but richie didn't think of it that way, because, why have a loving present father figure when you can have a ghost best friend and an entire empty house to yourself?

richie had this mentality where he thought that he didn't need his dad and that his father didn't need him. he was 15 years old and he could "take care of himself". stanley completely disagreed and had decided to be richie's "sort-of-guardian". richie called him his "mom" because stanley actually cared about him and was always there (not like richie's biological mother who had left over a decade ago)

anyways, stanley had woken richie up that morning by staring at him until richie was conscious enough to throw him a pillow. the ghost didn't appreciate the sentiment and just flipped him off.

"ah, fuck you, staniel"

"moron."

"why'd you wake me up so early, it's saturday"

"richie, I don't know if you can't read clocks or if you're plain stupid but it's past noon"

richie blinked a few times, staring at his watch in the bedside table and realized that stanley was actually right. "how did I sleep so much?"

"I actually do not know, but you did get home pretty late last night"

"oh, I was just with eddie, celebrating his birthday. did you know that he turned fifteen on tuesday?"

stanley didn't answer that question. instead, he just stood there like if he was thinking and after a few seconds, chose to say, "you talk about eddie too much for it to be normal"

"what the hell is that supposed to mean?" richie asked him but it was too late, stanley had already vanished. he groaned and got out of his bed, ready to have an absolutely boring day.

•

richie had been tired of being alone in his house (stanley hadn't appeared again so he had no one to talk to) and decided to go play at the arcade, because he wasn't much better than that, richie tozier had no self-control. the only people who could ever prevent him from doing idiotic things were stanley and maybe sometimes eddie but neither of them was there at the moment.

as he entered the arcade, richie had to blink a few times to adjust to the lack of sunlight. there were neon lights everywhere, of course, but the sun outside was a million times stronger. richie was so immersed in the atmosphere, he didn't notice that his feet had let him up to street fighter. it was his game, it was in his blood, and it also made him broke. richie sighed as he used the two dollars he had found in between the couch to start the game. he finally finished a round and, tokenless, and stared up at the ceiling. the arcade was a ratty place, sure, he could grant you that, but it was one of richie's favourite places. not his favourite, but a close second. he wasn't even sure what his favourite place was at the moment but it had to be better than this.

richie was now walking. he didn't know when exactly it had happened, he didn't know why but suddenly, richie tozier wanted to learn how to skateboard. when he got to ben's house,which was closest, he just entered it shamelessly, not caring about ben's parents, and made his way to his friend's room. when he reached the doorway, richie had realized what he had done, because thankfully the door was open, but what would've he done if ben and beverly were there, doing inappropriate things he would rather not think about. he shuddered but ben's voice quickly distracted him from his awful thoughts.

"richie, what are you doing here?"

"uh, nothing really, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but, do you happpen to have a skateboard?"

"yeah, I do, if you want it, you should keep it. I don't use it, I got it last christmas and it's been useless"

"thank you so fucking much, new kid"

"you know, I've been here for years already, I'm not the new kid anymore"

"you'll always be the new kid to me," richie laughed, grabbing the skateboard and leaving ben's house. he was out in the sunshine again and his eyes took some time to adjust. dammit. this was what he got as a punishment for staying inside all summer.

richie took a deep breath and finally got on the skateboard. it took a few tries but he eventually got the hang of it, and his knees weren't bleeding that much. he was actually pretty good at it, considering it was his first time. richie tozier had the ability to learn things almost instantly, which was a talent that would exasperate eddie, because he used it for stupid things, like learning all the lyrics to "we didn't start the fire" just to piss someone off.

when scraped his knees for the fifth time, richie gave up. he didn't care that he wasn't bad at skateboarding, it was the fact that he wasn't good at it yet that made him give up. he grabbed the skateboard in his hands, ready to go home when he realised that eddie's house was just down the street. he shouldn't. but he could. but he shouldn't. but he could.

a few moments later, he was knocking on eddie's door. fuck. richie considered running away, because why the hell was he there but it was too late, eddie had already opened the door.

"hi richie, want to come in?"

richie melted instantly upon hearing those words and stared for a few seconds before going inside and following eddie up to his room.

richie gazed at eddie as he sat down on the boy's bed, exhausted. eddie was just so pretty and richie couldn't stay away from him. no matter how much he wanted to, he would always end up going back to him.

_ **guitar funds: -10.00** _


	6. eddie kaspbrak’s terrible morning.

_ **[EDDIE]** _

_ **september 7, 1991** _

eddie kaspbrak had just had an awful morning. the night prior he had stated to himself that everything he felt for richie was strictly platonic, which made him overthink everything, making him fall asleep way too late. then, he had been woken because of his stupid nightmares of lepers and clowns and richie dying -- no, he wasn't going to think about that, he was just going to ignore it and get over it as normal people do. his breath was shaky and he looked at the clock on his bedside table, which read "6:09 am", which meant he was fucked. he had slept for only four hours and it was too late to fall asleep again, since the sunshine would wake him up in less than an hour, simply great.

at seven am, eddie's mother went to wake him up. eddie, of course, had not slept a wink but he had to fake sleep for the sake of his mother. eddie, thinking it couldn't be much worse, went downstairs, only to discover that his mom was trying a new diet that smelled, looked and (unfortunately) tasted disgusting, yay.

eddie, fed up with how his morning was turning out, only smiled because things can only get better, right?

wrong. eddie's mother had gotten a new type of pill for him to start taking, and he didn't dare ask what was it for. he just hid it in his fanny pack, making a mental note to throw it out later. when it was way past noon and after deciding to clean the entire kitchen (rather, making eddie clean the kitchen) mrs. kaspbrak finally headed out, meaning eddie was free. he immediately turned his record player on (which was the only object in his room that he liked) and started listening to "should I stay or should I go" by the clash which richie had labelled as a 'classic'.

_ **darling, you got to let me know** _

eddie danced along to the music as he cleaned his room, storing his recently laundered clothes in the closet and putting his pyjamas in the basket at the foot of his bed.

_ **should I stay or should I go** _

eddie was now singing along to the song, making his bed and propping up the pillows.

_ **if you say that you are mine** _

eddie was now reorganizing his books, they were now in alphabetical order.

_ **I'll be here 'till the end of time** _

eddie sang loudly and happily, having finished his boring tasks.

_ **so you got to let me know** _

knock, knock, knock.

_ **should I stay or should I go-** _

eddie turned off the record player and ran downstairs, only to find richie at the door. he went back to this room, but he wasn't alone this time, richie was following him.

"so, what are you doing here?" eddie asked richie, who still had to offer an explanation to why he was there.

"nothing really, I was skateboarding and happened to pass by your house-" eddie turned around and saw the boy correctly for the first time since he had entered.

"wHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR KNEES" eddie screeched, and richie had to cover his ears.

"it's nothing eds; you freak out too much about stuff, I just fell a few times when I was learning how to skateboard."

"what do you mean 'it's nothing' you're going to get infected, I'm going to clean up your wounds now and you have no choice, or I won't talk to you again."

"geez, feisty," richie swatted eddie away, which made him more determined to heal him. he grabbed some cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol, then turned to richie.

"come on, I'm perfectly fine, I don't need you hovering around me like sta-" richie stopped himself before blurting out his second-biggest secret.

eddie chose to ignore that, and started disinfecting richie's scraped knees, not thinking about how richie had nearly said stanley. still suspicious, but he didn't really care at the moment; instead, he was focused on richie, right in front of him. eddie tried not to get distracted, but it was so hard, especially when richie was so fidgety and, well, he was richie.

"I swear richie, you'll be the death of me, with all of these injuries. you're turning into a total punk, I mean with listening to metallica, going against everything someone with authority says and now you're trying to learn how to skateboard. what's next, are you going to get your ears pierced? or get a freaking tattoo?"

"oh great idea, thanks eds."

"no, wait, don't do it, don't you dare do it, I will kill you."

"wow I am absolutely terrified eds, I'm shaking, I definitely won't do it now," richie said with so much sarcasm in his voice, eddie just groaned.

"why are you like this?"

"do you mean awesome? 'cause I'm awesome."

eddie sighed upon hearing that and finished cleaning him up. he put all of his supplies away and lay down on his bed, exhausted, before speaking, although it was mostly muffled by the pillow, "I hate you."

"yeah, I hate me too," richie said, pretty softly, so no one could hear but was unaware that eddie had managed to perceive it. he cleared his throat and said, "I hate you too" before winking and lying down next to him, covering up his emotions with the stupid facade he wore every single goddamn day, that no one had actually managed to break through, not even stan, who had seen him in his worst of times.

eddie immediately sensed that something was wrong, and without thinking, hugged the boy. richie stiffened quickly, unaccustomed to displays of affection of this manner but eventually gave in and hugged eddie tightly back, trying not to turn bright red, something that had been happening way too often whenever eddie was around. eddie, of course, was freaking out because, oh my god, he was hugging him back! he hadn't been prepared for that situation, even though he was the one who hugged richie, his impulses caught him completely off guard.

then, as quickly as it had happened, richie pulled away and glared at eddie with an I-will-kill-you-if-you-tell-anyone look on his face and cleared his throat. "I think I'm, uh, going to leave now, thanks for helping me with my knees, uh, bye eds"

"do not call me eds, you fucker"

"don't you mean motherfu-" richie didn't get to finish before eddie threw a pillow at his head.

"I hate you, richie tozier"

"and I hate you, eddie kaspbrak"

and with that, he left, leaving eddie in a trance, staring at the place where he had stood. maybe that day hadn't been so bad after all.


	7. richie tozier is unable to sleep.

** _[RICHIE]_ **

** _september 9, 1991_ **

it had been a full week after school had started and richie still hadn't learned any math at all. instead, he had spent every single class listening to rock pretty loudly just to piss off eddie, not even stopping to care about dullman or the equation he was solving. yes, he had learned absolutely nothing, but he didn't care, because he managed to be with his two favourite things in the entire world; his music and eddie kaspbrak.

"STANIEL!" richie yelled as soon as he got home, after an exhausting day of useless classes and his stupid job. his father wasn't there as usual, so there wasn't any adult to judge him, which was a good thing because if anyone asked who richie was talking to, and he replied "a ghost" richie would probably be sent to a mental asylum.

"what now richie, what did you do?" stanley said unenthusiastically, coming from the hallway

"guess what, today eddie-" richie had started saying, but got interrupted by stan.

"eddie, eddie, eddie. eddie this, eddie that. eddie, eddie, eddie." he said in a bored tone, raising his eyebrows at richie, with a skeptical expression on his face.

"I do not sound like that! anyways, I hate him because he stole my eraser-"

"you do not hate him. you _like_ him."

richie nearly choked on the cookie he was eating. "no, I'm pretty sure I hate him at the moment."

"you sound like a teenage girl talking about her celebrity crush. you definitely like him. little richie's got a crush!"

"I do not!"  
  
"yes, you do."

"it's not like I lie awake at night, thinking about him."

"yeah, right..."

•

that night, richie couldn't sleep. he tossed and turned for several hours, not managing to get a wink of sleep. no matter what he did, he always ended up thinking about the same thing, and couldn't ignore it or get it out of his head. why had stanley said that? it was nowhere close to being the truth, eddie was just his best friend. they were extremely close, but that meant nothing, they were just a very good example of best friends like bill and stanley were. oh, wait. no. something had clearly been going on between them, well, before stan had died. richie still felt guilty for not telling bill about stan, who was living (well, not exactly living per se) in his house. but nobody could know, it was a secret he intended to keep so that no one could take stan away. anyways, if he told bill, bill would probably tell beverly, who'd probably tell ben, who'd probably tell mike, who'd probably tell eddie which would be absolutely disastrous. eddie would probably get mad at richie for not telling him before, and then he'd lose his best friend and-

fuck it, richie tozier was thinking about eddie again, even though he had tried to avoid it at all costs. stan's words replayed in his mind like in a horrible loop, one that wanted to make him tear his hair out. he hated this; he absolutely hated the fact that stan might be right because if he was, then richie tozier was betraying his own past self and the stupid promise he had made himself for the future.

"fuck," richie growled as he hurled a pillow at the wall.

naturally, stanley had to enter his room with a taunting expression on his face and a knowing gleam in his eye that richie didn't like at all. "so, was I right?"

richie just glared at him, hoping to intimidate stanley, which, unfortunately, wasn't the case.

"oh, so I was right. you're going to ask him out tomorrow, or I will annoy you until you do."

"let me sleep; I don't care, I'm already annoyed, now go away."

  
•

when richie woke up the next morning, he looked like hell. he was so tired, he left for school without changing his pyjama shirt or brushing his teeth. he also failed to realize that stanley had put The Stanley Bathcap in his backpack, something that would come back to haunt richie in the future. see, stanley was a ghost, which meant that he was tethered to an object or place, which in this case was the bath cap. wherever it went, stanley followed, which is why he had put it in richie's backpack. that way, he would be able to annoy richie the entire day at school, he just had to hide from the rest of the student body.

at first, it wasn't so bad. stanley would only write 'ask eddie out' in his notebook over and over again. by fourth period, stanley was moving richie's chair so that whenever he tried to sit down, he would fall onto the floor. when lunch rolled around, richie was so fed up, he left his backpack in his locker, having finally realized that the bath cap had been hidden there all day long.

"woah dude, you look like hell," beverly said as he sat down on their table. the losers had all been engaged in different types of conversations but had closed their mouths as soon as they had seen richie.

"I sure feel like it; I didn't get an ounce of sleep last night, the cats next door were being too loud again. I think something was trying to eat them, I mean, with all the yowling they did."

as the losers laughed, stanley watched them from the cafeteria entrance. he couldn't get any closer to them, as the backpack was in the locker so he stood as close as he could possibly be. stanley missed them. they were all just laughing together, just like they did years back but this time without him. he missed it, he missed every single part of being alive, but it's not like he really had the choice to die. at least he had been able to save them from the clown, all of them, richie, bill, even eddie, who everyone had thought was doomed.

stanley began walking away, to get away from them, the pain it was causing him just to see them, but he didn't notice the tears streaming down his cheeks.

_stanley felt truly alone._


	8. dullman or ratman, pick your choice.

** _[EDDIE]_ **

** _september 13, 1991_ **

richie had been acting differently all week and eddie had no idea to what had been going on. yes, on the outside richie had been exactly the same with the stupid mom jokes and teasing everybody but eddie could sense the difference in his demeanour. it was the way richie would talk to eddie, only to eddie, about certain things and the way he let eddie hug him occasionally, something he wouldn't let anyone do, for he had a very simple 'do not touch me or I will scrape your eyes out with a spoon' rule.

eddie wasn't sure about what exactly had changed, but he wasn't complaining. oh wait, yes he was. richie being stand-offish wasn't necessarily a good thing, unless you are a boy with a stupid crush on him, which eddie totally wasn't. he just really liked being with richie, more than normal. but that was it. eddie kaspbrak was still not gay. at least, that's what he assured himself every day.

when eddie was walking to bill's house that afternoon, he kept replaying on his head what had happened in math class. richie had been trying to annoy him again by listening to AC/DC again, something that kind of backfired, since eddie didn't actually hate richie's music, he found it pretty cool but he wasn't about to admit that to him. if richie found out, he'd probably hold it over him and tease him about that forever or he'd stop trying to annoy eddie that way but eddie liked it too much, he couldn't let richie just stop.

anyways, listening to rock loudly wasn't everything richie had done. the boy obviously been bored out of his mind so he found several ways to entertain himself. at first, he had been balancing as much paper boats as he could on greta's back, who was sleeping in the seat before him. when she woke up, she yelled at him so he began trying other things. he began tapping his pencil on the desk until dullman yelled at him to be quiet, which was when richie got the idea of making crude drawings of dullman. in one he was a rat, not like he doesn't look like one anyways, and he was a goat, a pig and a naked mole rat in the other three. eddie had to stop himself from laughing so dullman wouldn't catch them but richie's smile was contagious and eddie was still smiling, even after school had ended. maybe he actually liked richie, but that would be a problem eddie would give to his future self and would ignore for the time being.

bill was extremely quiet the whole walk to his house and at first, eddie hadn't noticed because he was too busy thinking about richie. it wasn't surprising, bill was still way too quiet but at least he had been to school every single day, and now eddie was actually going to his house. he was taking small steps at a time and eddie respected his pace, bill wasn't good at getting over people's deaths. he had gotten better slowly every day until last summer, where something obviously had happened and set bill back to the start again.

upon arriving at bill's room, they both threw themselves on the bed, exhausted from their test-filled morning and boring afternoon. school sucked but there wasn't much to do about that except rest after it. eddie had nearly dozed off when bill decided to ask him a question, speaking for one of the first times that day. "w-would it be o-okay if I d-drew you?"

eddie had been surprised by this request since bill used to draw stanley most of the time, and occasionally the losers club, but he smiled and nodded. when bill was halfway through, eddie decided to ask him a question. "I'm sorry for asking, but why are you drawing _me_?"

"I c-can't d-draw him, I'm s-s-starting t-to f-forget," bill suddenly started crying before being able to finish that sentence and eddie hugged him tightly, unsure what to do. eddie scolded himself in his mind for triggering bill, something that he had been so careful not to do until now. bill missed stanley more than anyone could imagine, and everything had been worse after that summer day, when bill imagined himself talking to the ghost version of him.

"you k-know, I l-loved him" he said, as he broke down again, fresh sobs emanating from within him, and eddie's heart broke into little pieces as he heard that. "eddie, w-whatever you d-do, don't e-ever let g-go of r-richie"

"wait, what do you mean?"

"I k-know y-you love him"

"I do not!"

bill had stopped crying and was looking at eddie in disbelief. "y-yes you d-do, have y-you seen y-yourself w-when you're a-around him?"

"I do not love him! you know what, I should just go," eddie stood up and left bill's room. he hadn't said that in a malicious tone, for he wasn't mad at bill, he just needed to think. bill had taken it well, for he understood eddie more than one may realize.

as he walked down the street, eddie was too engrossed in his own thoughts to see someone flying down the street on their bicycle who nearly ran him over. the person on the bike swerved to avoid colliding into him and ended up falling on the sidewalk. eddie dusted himself and stood up, trying to walk away quickly before the person saw him because he would like to avoid confrontation between them.

"wHERE THE FUCK DID YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, ASSHOLE — oh, hi eds"

naturally, the boy who had almost killed eddie was richie. eddie helped him to his feet and checked to see if he had scraped himself. luckily, he hadn't, and the ones he had from falling off the skateboard had already healed.

"hey, eds, I just finished my shift and I'm bored, do you wanna go somewhere?"

"I'd love to, but I don't have a bike"

"is that supposed to be an issue? because you know you can just hop on the back of mine"

"do you even know how dangerous that is?" richie pouted and eddie finally caved in. richie rode down the streets of derry, until he reached the quarry and immediately collapsed on the ground.

"geez eddie, you don't weigh much but I am so fucking tired" he said and faked dying as he lay on the ground.

eddie lay down next to him and rested his head on richie's stomach. it felt different than the last time the two of them had been there, something had changed, even if it had only been a week. richie began running his fingers through eddie's hair and the smaller boy turned his head to be able to see richie properly. he was smiling and as eddie looked into his eyes he thought, "maybe I do like him, maybe a tiny bit"


	9. eddie realizes richie is hopeless at math.

** _[RICHIE]_ **

** _september 27, 1991_ **

it had already been way over a week since richie had last hung out with eddie, but he missed him. sure, he saw him every day at school, but he wanted to be alone with him, not in the most goddamn awful place in existence.

that afternoon, richie decided to listen to Welcome To The Jungle on repeat because why not, it's not like Guns N' Roses are bad. he turned up the music, tuned out dullman and just stared at eddie the whole two periods. he was starting to finally appreciate math class.

well, until he heard dullman say that they had a test next week. richie tozier was utterly and completely fucked.

when they were walking home, eddie had been surprisingly quiet. of course, he hadn't had the chance to talk because richie was ranting about the fact that maths was stupid and that dullman was as well. eddie looked thoughtful and finally spoke.

"well, you know I've been paying attention in class, even though you haven't and I actually _learned_"

"eddie, please teach me, I need help, I'll do anything, _please_"

"fine, only if you feed me, I'm starving. my mom has a new diet because I 'shouldn't eat the chemicals in candy' which is stupid because candy is the only thing I'm currently living for!"

richie decided to ignore the awful depressive joke eddie had made. they had an unspoken pact, they wouldn't talk about their jokes, even if they were too dark.

the gravel crackled underneath their feet as they made their way to richie's house. eddie was walking at a slow pace, only thinking about richie, but the taller of two had other things to think about. richie could only hope his father wasn't at home and stanley wasn't stupid enough to show himself to eddie; otherwise, it would be chaotic.

richie opened the door nervously and sighed in relief when he saw it was absolutely empty. richie thought that his house was more presentable than it usually was and that eddie wouldn't notice that it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but that was where he was wrong. eddie had noticed every single detail; the empty beer cans on the rotting old couch, the broken TV nobody had bothered to fix, the smashed picture frames that had old photographs of richie's mother in them and especially the way richie anxiously looked for someone, as if he was scared of his own father. eddie didn't know how close he was to the truth.

the reason eddie was there was to teach richie maths, so he put him to work immediately, making him work on a few exercises while he read romeo and juliet, which was his english assignment.

"romeo and juliet? isn't that like, the worst love story in existence?" richie said, looking up from his work.

"richie, you're supposed to be working," eddie frowned, a disappointed expression resting on his face when he saw richie's stupid drawings instead of numbers on the exercise sheet. "do you even know what we're doing?"

"uh, answering... math stuff?" he answered, cleverly masking the fact that he had no idea.

apparently, richie didn't do it well because eddie smacked him on the head. richie wasn't intimidated in the least bit, yet he continued to answer math problems until his bladder screamed at him to go to the bathroom.

"I'll be right back," richie spoke as he stood up quickly, anxious to get to the bathroom in time. while he was washing his hands, he heard a bloodcurdling shriek pierce the air, and richie's only thought was, "eddie"

richie ran to his room, only to see eddie sitting on his bed, perfectly okay, talking to stanley. what, he was _what?_

"sTANLEY"

"shit!" was all the ghost managed to say before he dashed out of richie's sight, passing through one of the bedroom walls. what a coward.

"well, I guess you know about stanley now" richie sighed and flopped onto his bed, unsure of what eddie's reaction would be. he was completely terrified that eddie might hate him, which is why he hadn't told him in the first place, even though he had been dying to tell someone for years.

"how the hell could you not tell me about him sooner!" was all that eddie said, it hadn't even been said in an angry tone. if anything, richie nearly thought it was a reassuring one.

"I was scared someone was going to put me in a psychiatric ward! saying "oh, remember stanley, your friend that died two years ago? well, he's living with me now. oh, and, by the way, he's also a ghost!" doesn't sound like something a sane person would say, eddie!"

"you make a valid point. but I assume you know that I'll spend a lot of time at your house now, stan and I have a lot to catch up on"

"hey, what about me!"

"I'll spend a lot of time with you if you need attention, honey" eddie said sarcastically, patting richie's head, who was trying not to turn beetroot red in front of him.

•

it was an interesting afternoon, the one the three boys had shared together, and stanley was genuinely happy. sure, he loved richie to pieces, he was like his younger brother and weird child figure to him, but he missed being around other people. stanley wasn't as close to eddie as he had been to richie or bill but he was still one of his friends, and stanley loved all of them to pieces, even more than his wonderful birds.

after realizing that his father wasn't going to be home that night, since he had taken all of the money left in his drawer, richie asked eddie if he wanted to stay over. he had said yes, so the three of them were playing monopoly while eating reheated mac and cheese when eddie left to take a pill, and that was the moment stanley confronted richie about his crush.

"you act like an idiot richie." stanley had began sharing his 'educated opinion' on the matter and richie wasn't liking it one bit. "it's completely ridiculous the way you keep staring at him like if he's the freaking sun"

"if he was the sun, I wouldn't be looking at him because I would turn blind, you absolute moron" richie said while tossing a pillow at stanley's head.

"dude, you know what I'm talking about. stop avoiding it. face your fears, you coward. in this case, your fear has a pretty face so there's nothing to be scared of really"

"that's your logic? it doesn't even make sense!"

"...just ask him out. okay?"

richie was about to utter a rude remark on the matter, but luckily for stanley, eddie came back at that moment, and the three of them resumed their game.

richie and eddie would collude all the time, which was very annoying for stanley since eddie kept winning every single time.

when stanley had finally gotten tired of all the cheating, he turned on the non-broken TV in richie's room and flipped through channels until he found something that he liked. richie groaned once he realized he was watching Full House, of course stanley had chosen that stupid show.

when richie tried to steal away the remote, stanley raised his eyebrows when he saw eddie falling asleep, resting his head on richie's stomach. the reason he was surprised wasn't the fact that eddie was like a cat, everyone knew that, it was that richie's other hand was in eddie's hair, messing it all up and the younger boy wasn't complaining about it, which was what he always did when someone came close to his hair.

"young love" stanley thought to himself. "the two of them are extremely in love with the other but are too blind to even notice."


	10. richie falls down the stairs.

** _[EDDIE]_ **

** _september 28, 1991_ **

eddie kaspbrak had fallen asleep accidentally while richie and stanley had been bickering over which shows were better and if Full House sucked or not. richie's stomach had just been so comfortable and he was tired, what was he meant to do, stay awake questioning his entire existence and thinking about how was it possible that stanley was a ghost? no, that didn't seem like something he would like to do, so he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

eddie always woke up early, even on saturdays, since his mother didn't give him a choice. today was no exception, eddie was now programmed to wake up at ridiculously early hours.

when sunlight began streaming in through the windows (since nobody had bothered to close the curtains the night before) eddie woke up, at the same time he always did. his face flushed when he realized he was practically cuddling with richie. they were still on the floor but had been covered up with a blanket; probably stan's doing. richie was still fast asleep, at least that's what eddie thought, so he tried not to move.

weirdly, eddie felt safe. he was in a house he barely visited, in which the only inhabitants were a very hyperactive kid, a ghost and an always absent alcoholic. still, there was something that made it feel like home, he just didn't know what it was. it might've been the fact that he was currently in richie's arms since eddie had been touch starved for god knows how long. eddie was safe, and although he couldn't sleep and the floor was quite uncomfortable, he was happy.

what eddie was unaware of that although richie's inner clock was wack, richie was a very light sleeper and he had woken up at the same time eddie did, just because the younger boy had moved his knee a little bit. richie was now awake and he had no idea eddie was, because he was deliberately not looking at eddie (if he was, he would have seen him blush furiously, thank satan he didn't)

both of them lay on the dirty floor for two more hours, not daring to move because although neither ever wanted to admit it, they both liked cuddling with each other and they never wanted it to end. the only reason that they actually got up was that stan decided it was late enough and they couldn't stay like that anymore. when stan spoke, both boys sat up quickly and put as much distance between them as possible, though they both knew they didn't want to.

"wake up fuckers, there's someone at the door and you know I'm not going to open it."

richie jumped up, startled, and ran down the stairs so quickly he slipped on one of the last steps. he landed on his butt with a large _thump_.

stan burst out laughing at seeing him with a shocked expression on the floor and richie flipped him off before he disappeared through a wall. when richie stood up he groaned loudly, because fuck, his butt hurt like hell. at least he hadn't fallen on his face because his glasses couldn't stand another fall, they were already pretty beaten up. he touched his face and realized that he hadn't even put them on, what an absolute idiot, no wonder he had tripped on the step.

"whoever it is, it better be important because I was doing pretty well before you woke me up" richie said as he finally opened the door, where he squinted (he wasn't able to make out who it was without his glasses) and saw a smudgey beverly standing there, a quizzical look on her face.

"did you just fall down the stairs?" was all she said, and when richie didn't answer she started laughing so he stuck out his tongue at her.

"it's not important bev, the question still is, what are you doing here?" he said gruffly, still squinting. while she was explaining that she wanted the loser's club to hang out somewhere, eddie came downstairs, his immaculate hair all messy and richie's glasses in his hand. beverly's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to intrude or anything-"

"wait, what?" richie said, then turned around and saw eddie, who was just standing there, face beetroot red thanks to beverly's comment. "oh, bev, it's not what you think. I mean, eddie just stayed the night here because his mother sucks"

beverly looked at eddie for a sigh of confirmation and he nodded. "uh, rich, I got you your glasses when I heard you fall down the stairs"

richie put them on and finally saw beverly correctly. "thanks eds, and let's not talk about my fall ever again"

"do not call me eds" eddie said but he was smiling so neither richie or beverly took him seriously.

beverly cleared her throat. "ok, I don't know what the fuck is going on between you two but do you want to go build a dam with us or not?"

"yeah, sure, we'll meet you at the canal later, we still need to get dressed and have breakfast and all that jazz"

richie turned away when he finished speaking and beverly took advantage of that situation to wink and eddie and mouthed the words "kiss him" to the boy who looked startled. eddie said "what the fuck, beverly" because no one could know his secret, let alone guess it as she did. he wasn't about to give her the satisfaction, no way.

•

when the two boys were back in richie's room, they were faced with a dilemma. eddie had brought no clothes over and he definitely wasn't going to wear the clothes he had slept in.

richie had offered him to wear his clothes so eddie was currently looking through his closet for anything that wasn't a stupid hawaiian shirt. meanwhile, richie turned on his record player and started playing his favorite Bon Jovi album, Slippery When Wet.

by the time eddie had finally picked something (a boring blue shirt, a black hoodie, and his own pants), You Give Love A Bad Name had just started playing. richie was imitating playing a guitar and began singing along pretty loudly.

_shot through the heart_

richie jumped up and stood on his bed.

_and you're to blame_

richie was now pointing at eddie from up high and made eddie chuckle.

_darlin', you give love a bad name_

richie jumped back down, landing on top of a pillow on the floor which slid from underneath him, making him crash onto the floor.

eddie could only laugh and smile. he really liked richie, he liked him to death, but why had he chosen such an idiot?


	11. dullman sucks but tests suck more.

** _[RICHIE]_ **

** _october 11, 1991_ **

richie sat impatiently (when did he not) at his desk, waiting for dullman to give back their graded tests. they had done the test on monday and richie hadn't done that badly. honestly, it was all thanks to eddie, who had been helping richie learn for over a week. sure, they had done nothing but procrastinate the first day, meaning they never went to build the dam (beverly had said that it didn't matter, in the end the losers never even got together, they all had a different stupid type of occupation) but richie had worked more than he had done in his lifetime for the rest of the week.

it was painful to wait that long, everyone had received theirs but richie, who was hyperventilating on the inside but keeping his cool on the outside, he wasn't going to let his walls down for one stupid test, he only lowered his walls down for one person. that person was eddie. the boy was sitting quietly next to richie, a smile on his face, test laying face up on the desk marked with a bright red 'A'. yes, eddie totally deserved that grade and it calmed richie a little, seeing eddie happy.

after what seemed an eternity, he finally got his test. when he saw the grade he quickly tackled eddie in a hug so violently, eddie fell out of his chair.

"you absolute moron" eddie laughed, but he didn't care that he bruised his butt. he had never seen anyone so happy over a 'B' before, but, to be fair, this was richie and he was unpredictable.

anyways, it's not like it actually hurt to fall on his butt, at least he hadn't fallen like richie. after he had fallen down the stairs the other day, he had complained the entire week about how much his rear end ached. he groaned like an old man whenever he had to sit down and even carried a cushion with him at all times (so his butt would hurt less when he sat) because richie tozier was the most dramatic motherfucker on the planet.

naturally, stanley couldn't let it go and annoyed richie up to the point he lined his room with salt so stan wouldn't be able to come in. the ghost was offended by that action and since he decided to go on strike, richie's house was the messiest it had been in years.

the bed creaked under the sudden weight when richie flopped down on it, completely exhausted. stan didn't appear since his bedroom still had all the salt. richie couldn't move, he needed a break. school was as tiring as usual and he had been studying and working all week. he finally had time to sleep. it hadn't been nice to leave eddie, he wanted to stay with him forever but richie had important things to worry about, his father was probably going to stay at home all day. it was strange to see him in the house after two weeks of absence. where he had run off; richie had no clue but he also didn't give a fuck about it. he was probably with a new woman, staying in a motel miles away from his son, whom he obviously didn't give a single fuck about.

wentworth didn't feel like his father, he hadn't ever since richie's mother left. well, that part richie wasn't so sure about. he never knew if his mother had died or if she had just left them but he did remember her from his very early childhood memories. it didn't matter anyway, the point was that richie didn't have parents anymore. at this point in his life, the losers had turned into his new family and he was grateful for that. hell, stanley was now his fake mom!

of course, it had crossed richie's mind to run away a few times in his life but he had never actually carried out his plans. first of all, he was small, broke, stupid and way too young. second of all, his father was going to die soon, richie was surprised that he wasn't dead in a ditch somewhere yet.

•

richie woke up to the noise of shattered glass. he hadn't even noticed that he had dozed off and it was nearly dark outside. he heard his father yelling at a beer bottle downstairs and decided he had had enough of it and opened his window. he studied the drop and realized that it wouldn't be too bad if he clung to the windowsill and then let go. he proceeded to do that and when he touched the ground, his ankle twisted and a sharp pain ran up his leg. fuck, he had probably sprained his ankle.

richie decided to ignore the pain and mounted his bike. he realized that there was no way of getting back up to his room but that seemed like a problem for future richie, present richie only cared about getting the hell out of his house.

he pedalled away, slower than usual thanks to his stupid ankle. where was he going, he had no clue, he just let the bike take him wherever it deemed necessary. when richie's ankle screamed in pain, he finally decided to stop. the house in front of him seemed familiar, like richie had been there before.

richie groaned inwardly. it was eddie's house. why did this keep happening to him?

eddie was probably sleeping but he was richie's best bet of having somewhere to stay the night so richie began climbing up the tree that led to eddie's bedroom, hoping that it was dark enough so sonia wouldn't catch him.

the bedroom window was unlocked and richie tried to open it as quietly as possible but eddie was a very light sleeper, so when richie managed to get his head inside the room, he saw eddie standing there with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

"what the hell are you doing here richie?"

richie was so startled when he saw eddie that he fell forwards, knocking eddie over in the process, making them both end up on the ground, blushing like idiots.

"goddammit eds, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

  
  


** _guitar funds: $194.00_ **


	12. eddie realizes richie is hopeless at maths.

** _[RICHIE]_ **

** _september 27, 1991_ **

it had already been way over a week since richie had last hung out with eddie, but he missed him. sure, he saw him every day at school, but he wanted to be alone with him, not in the most goddamn awful place in existence.

that afternoon, richie decided to listen to Welcome To The Jungle on repeat because why not, it's not like Guns N' Roses are bad. he turned up the music, tuned out dullman and just stared at eddie the whole two periods. he was starting to finally appreciate math class.

well, until he heard dullman say that they had a test next week. richie tozier was utterly and completely fucked.

when they were walking home, eddie had been surprisingly quiet. of course, he hadn't had the chance to talk because richie was ranting about the fact that maths was stupid and that dullman was as well. eddie looked thoughtful and finally spoke.

"well, you know I've been paying attention in class, even though you haven't and I actually _learned_"

"eddie, please teach me, I need help, I'll do anything, _please_"

"fine, only if you feed me, I'm starving. my mom has a new diet because I 'shouldn't eat the chemicals in candy' which is stupid because candy is the only thing I'm currently living for!"

richie decided to ignore the awful depressive joke eddie had made. they had an unspoken pact, they wouldn't talk about their jokes, even if they were too dark.

the gravel crackled underneath their feet as they made their way to richie's house. eddie was walking at a slow pace, only thinking about richie, but the taller of two had other things to think about. richie could only hope his father wasn't at home and stanley wasn't stupid enough to show himself to eddie; otherwise, it would be chaotic.

richie opened the door nervously and sighed in relief when he saw it was absolutely empty. richie thought that his house was more presentable than it usually was and that eddie wouldn't notice that it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but that was where he was wrong. eddie had noticed every single detail; the empty beer cans on the rotting old couch, the broken TV nobody had bothered to fix, the smashed picture frames that had old photographs of richie's mother in them and especially the way richie anxiously looked for someone, as if he was scared of his own father. eddie didn't know how close he was to the truth.

the reason eddie was there was to teach richie maths, so he put him to work immediately, making him work on a few exercises while he read romeo and juliet, which was his english assignment.

"romeo and juliet? isn't that like, the worst love story in existence?" richie sad, looking up from his work.

"richie, you're supposed to be working," eddie frowned, a disappointed expression resting on his face when he saw richie's stupid drawings instead of numbers on the exercise sheet. "do you even know what we're doing?"

"uh, answering... math stuff?" he answered, cleverly masking the fact that he had no idea.

apparently, richie didn't do it well because eddie smacked him on the head. richie wasn't intimidated in the least bit, yet he continued to answer math problems until his bladder screamed at him to go to the bathroom.

"I'll be right back," richie spoke as he stood up quickly, anxious to get to the bathroom in time. while he was washing his hands, he heard a bloodcurdling shriek pierce the air, and richie's only thought was, "eddie"

richie ran to his room, only to see eddie sitting on his bed, perfectly okay, talking to stanley. what, he was _what?_

"sTANLEY"

"shit!" was all the ghost managed to say before he dashed out of richie's sight, passing through one of the bedroom walls. what a coward.

"well, I guess you know about stanley now" richie sighed and flopped onto his bed, unsure of what eddie's reaction would be. he was completely terrified that eddie might hate him, which is why he hadn't told him in the first place, even though he had been dying to tell someone for years.

"how the hell could you not tell me about him sooner!" was all that eddie said, it hadn't even been said in an angry tone. if anything, richie nearly thought it was a reassuring one.

"I was scared someone was going to put me in a psychiatric ward! saying "oh, remember stanley, your friend that died two years ago? well, he's living with me now. oh, and, by the way, he's also a ghost!" doesn't sound like something a sane person would say, eddie!"

"you make a valid point. but I assume you know that I'll spend a lot of time at your house now, stan and I have a lot to catch up on"

"hey, what about me!"

"I'll spend a lot of time with you if you need attention, honey" eddie said sarcastically, patting richie's head, who was trying not to turn beetroot red in front of him.

•

it was an interesting afternoon, the one the three boys had shared together, and stanley was genuinely happy. sure, he loved richie to pieces, he was like his younger brother and weird child figure to him, but he missed being around other people. stanley wasn't as close to eddie as he had been to richie or bill but he was still one of his friends, and stanley loved all of them to pieces, even more than his wonderful birds.

after realizing that his father wasn't going to be home that night, since he had taken all of the money left in his drawer, richie asked eddie if he wanted to stay over. he had said yes, so the three of them were playing monopoly while eating reheated mac and cheese when eddie left to take a pill, and that was the moment stanley confronted richie about his crush.

"you act like an idiot richie." stanley had began sharing his 'educated opinion' on the matter and richie wasn't liking it one bit. "it's completely ridiculous the way you keep staring at him like if he's the freaking sun"

"if he was the sun, I wouldn't be looking at him because I would turn blind, you absolute moron" richie said while tossing a pillow at stanley's head.

"dude, you know what I'm talking about. stop avoiding it. face your fears, you coward. in this case, your fear has a pretty face so there's nothing to be scared of really"

"that's your logic? it doesn't even make sense!"

"...just ask him out. okay?"

richie was about to utter a rude remark on the matter, but luckily for stanley, eddie came back at that moment, and the three of them resumed their game.

richie and eddie would collude all the time, which was very annoying for stanley since eddie kept winning every single time.

when stanley had finally gotten tired of all the cheating, he turned on the non-broken TV in richie's room and flipped through channels until he found something that he liked. richie groaned once he realized he was watching Full House, of course stanley had chosen that stupid show.

when richie tried to steal away the remote, stanley raised his eyebrows when he saw eddie falling asleep, resting his head on richie's stomach. the reason he was surprised wasn't the fact that eddie was like a cat, everyone knew that, it was that richie's other hand was in eddie's hair, messing it all up and the younger boy wasn't complaining about it, which was what he always did when someone came close to his hair.

"young love" stanley thought to himself. "the two of them are extremely in love with the other but are too blind to even notice."


	13. richie falls down the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think this has been my favourite chapter to write so far :)

** _[EDDIE]_ **

** _september 28, 1991_ **

eddie kaspbrak had fallen asleep accidentally while richie and stanley had been bickering over which shows were better and if full house sucked or not. richie's stomach had just been so comfortable and he was tired, what was he meant to do, stay awake questioning his entire existence and thinking about how was it possible that stanley was a ghost? no, that didn't seem like something he would like to do, so he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

eddie always woke up early, even on saturdays, since his mother didn't give him a choice. today was no exception, eddie was now programmed to wake up at ridiculously early hours.

when sunlight began streaming in through the windows (since nobody had bothered to close the curtains the night before) eddie woke up, at the same time he always did. his face flushed when he realized he was practically cuddling with richie. they were still on the floor but had been covered up with a blanket; probably stan's doing. richie was still fast asleep, at least that's what eddie thought, so he tried not to move.

weirdly, eddie felt safe. he was in a house he barely visited, in which the only inhabitants were a very hyperactive kid, a ghost and an always absent alcoholic. still, there was something that made it feel like home, he just didn't know what it was. it might've been the fact that he was currently in richie's arms since eddie had been touch starved for god knows how long. eddie was safe, and although he couldn't sleep and the floor was quite uncomfortable, he was happy.

what eddie was unaware of was that although richie's inner clock was wack, richie was a very light sleeper and he had woken up at the same time eddie did, just because the younger boy had moved his knee a little bit. richie was now awake and he had no idea eddie was, because he was deliberately not looking at eddie (if he was, he would have seen him blush furiously, thank satan he didn't)

both of them lay on the dirty floor for two more hours, not daring to move because although neither ever wanted to admit it, they both liked cuddling with each other and they never wanted it to end. the only reason that they actually got up was that stan decided it was late enough and they couldn't stay like that anymore. when stan spoke, both boys sat up quickly and put as much distance between them as possible, though they both knew they didn't want to.

"wake up fuckers, there's someone at the door and you know I'm not going to open it."

richie jumped up, startled, and ran down the stairs so quickly he slipped on one of the last steps. he landed on his butt with a large _thump_.

stan burst out laughing at seeing him with a shocked expression on the floor and richie flipped him off before he disappeared through a wall. when richie stood up he groaned loudly, because fuck, his butt hurt like hell. at least he hadn't fallen on his face because his glasses couldn't stand another fall, they were already pretty beaten up. he touched his face and realized that he hadn't even put them on, what an absolute idiot, no wonder he had tripped on the step.

"whoever it is, it better be important because I was doing pretty well before you woke me up" richie said as he finally opened the door, where he squinted (he wasn't able to make out who it was without his glasses) and saw a blurry beverly standing there, a quizzical look on her face.

"did you just fall down the stairs?" was all she said, and when richie didn't answer she started laughing so he stuck out his tongue at her.

"it's not important bev, the question still is, what are you doing here?" he said gruffly, still squinting. while she was explaining that she wanted the loser's club to hang out somewhere, eddie came downstairs, his immaculate hair all messy and richie's glasses in his hand. beverly's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to intrude or anything-"

"wait, what?" richie said, then turned around and saw eddie, who was just standing there, face beetroot red thanks to beverly's comment. "oh, bev, it's not what you think. I mean, eddie just stayed the night here because his mother sucks"

beverly looked at eddie for a sigh of confirmation and he nodded. "uh, rich, I got you your glasses when I heard you fall down the stairs"

richie put them on and finally saw beverly correctly. "thanks eds, and let's not talk about my fall ever again"

"do not call me eds" eddie said but he was smiling so neither richie or beverly took him seriously.

beverly cleared her throat. "ok, I don't know what the fuck is going on between you two but do you want to go build a dam with us or not?"

"yeah, sure, we'll meet you at the canal later, we still need to get dressed and have breakfast and all that jazz"

richie turned away when he finished speaking and beverly took advantage of that situation to wink and eddie and mouthed the words "kiss him" to the boy who looked startled. eddie said "what the fuck, beverly" because no one could know his secret, let alone guess it as she did. he wasn't about to give her the satisfaction, no way.

•

when the two boys were back in richie's room, they were faced with a dilemma. eddie had brought no clothes over and he definitely wasn't going to wear the clothes he had slept in.

richie had offered him to wear his clothes so eddie was currently looking through his closet for anything that wasn't a stupid hawaiian shirt. meanwhile, richie turned on his record player and started playing his favorite Bon Jovi album, Slippery When Wet.

by the time eddie had finally picked something (a boring blue shirt, a black hoodie, and his own pants), You Give Love A Bad Name had just started playing. richie was imitating playing a guitar and began singing along pretty loudly.

_shot through the heart_

richie jumped up and stood on his bed.

_and you're to blame_

richie was now pointing at eddie from up high and made eddie chuckle.

_darlin', you give love a bad name_

richie jumped back down, landing on top of a pillow on the floor which slid from underneath him, making him crash onto the floor.

eddie could only laugh and smile. he really liked richie, he liked him to death, but why had he chosen such an idiot?


	14. dullman sucks but tests suck more.

** _[RICHIE]_ **

** _october 11, 1991_ **

richie sat impatiently (when did he not) at his desk, waiting for dullman to give back their graded tests. they had done the test on monday and richie hadn't done that badly. honestly, it was all thanks to eddie, who had been helping richie learn for over a week. sure, they had done nothing but procrastinate the first day, meaning they never went to build the dam (beverly had said that it didn't matter, in the end the losers never even got together, they all had a different stupid type of occupation) but richie had worked more than he had done in his lifetime for the rest of the week.

it was painful to wait that long, everyone had received theirs but richie, who was hyperventilating on the inside but keeping his cool on the outside, he wasn't going to let his walls down for one stupid test, he only lowered his walls down for one person. that person was eddie. the boy was sitting quietly next to richie, a smile on his face, test laying face up on the desk marked with a bright red 'A'. yes, eddie totally deserved that grade and it calmed richie a little, seeing eddie happy.

after what seemed an eternity, he finally got his test. when he saw the grade he quickly tackled eddie in a hug so violently, eddie fell out of his chair.

"you absolute moron" eddie laughed, but he didn't care that he bruised his butt. he had never seen anyone so happy over a 'B' before, but, to be fair, this was richie and he was unpredictable.

anyways, it's not like it actually hurt to fall on his butt, at least he hadn't fallen like richie. after he had fallen down the stairs the other day, he had complained the entire week about how much his rear end ached. he groaned like an old man whenever he had to sit down and even carried a cushion with him at all times (so his butt would hurt less when he sat) because richie tozier was the most dramatic motherfucker on the planet.

naturally, stanley couldn't let it go and annoyed richie up to the point he lined his room with salt so stan wouldn't be able to come in. the ghost was offended by that action and since he decided to go on strike, richie's house was the messiest it had been in years.

the bed creaked under the sudden weight when richie flopped down on it, completely exhausted. stan didn't appear since his bedroom still had all the salt. richie couldn't move, he needed a break. school was as tiring as usual and he had been studying and working all week. he finally had time to sleep. it hadn't been nice to leave eddie, he wanted to stay with him forever but richie had important things to worry about, his father was probably going to stay at home all day. it was strange to see him in the house after two weeks of absence. where he had run off; richie had no clue but he also didn't give a fuck about it. he was probably with a new woman, staying in a motel miles away from his son, whom he obviously didn't give a single fuck about.

wentworth didn't feel like his father, he hadn't ever since richie's mother left. well, that part richie wasn't so sure about. he never knew if his mother had died or if she had just left them but he did remember her from his very early childhood memories. it didn't matter anyway, the point was that richie didn't have parents anymore. at this point in his life, the losers had turned into his new family and he was grateful for that. hell, stanley was now his fake mom!

of course, it had crossed richie's mind to run away a few times in his life but he had never actually carried out his plans. first of all, he was small, broke, stupid and way too young. second of all, his father was going to die soon, richie was surprised that he wasn't dead in a ditch somewhere yet.

•

richie woke up to the noise of shattered glass. he hadn't even noticed that he had dozed off and it was nearly dark outside. he heard his father yelling at a beer bottle downstairs and decided he had had enough of it and opened his window. he studied the drop and realized that it wouldn't be too bad if he clung to the windowsill and then let go. he proceeded to do that and when he touched the ground, his ankle twisted and a sharp pain ran up his leg. fuck, he had probably sprained his ankle.

richie decided to ignore the pain and mounted his bike. he realized that there was no way of getting back up to his room but that seemed like a problem for future richie, present richie only cared about getting the hell out of his house.

he pedalled away, slower than usual thanks to his stupid ankle. where was he going, he had no clue, he just let the bike take him wherever it deemed necessary. when richie's ankle screamed in pain, he finally decided to stop. the house in front of him seemed familiar, like richie had been there before.

richie groaned inwardly. it was eddie's house. why did this keep happening to him?

eddie was probably sleeping but he was richie's best bet of having somewhere to stay the night so richie began climbing up the tree that led to eddie's bedroom, hoping that it was dark enough so sonia wouldn't catch him.

the bedroom window was unlocked and richie tried to open it as quietly as possible but eddie was a very light sleeper, so when richie managed to get his head inside the room, he saw eddie standing there with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

"what the hell are you doing here richie?"

richie was so startled when he saw eddie that he fell forwards, knocking eddie over in the process, making them both end up on the ground, blushing like idiots.

"goddammit eds, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

  
  


** _guitar funds: $194.00_ **


	15. sprained ankles & suspicious intruders.

* * *

_ **[EDDIE]** _

_ **october 11, 1991** _

"goddammit eds, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"you'd need a heart for that" eddie said before he could think. it came out as an instinct, proving that he had spending way too much time with richie tozier, who was, in fact, at that moment, crushing him. it was quite painful.

richie had fallen on top eddie and still hadn't gotten up because he couldn't see. as he landed, his glasses skidded off his face and had landed on eddie's.

"hm, I can barely see you properly without them on, but you do look good in my glasses, eds"

eddie just rolled his eyes, although richie probably couldn't even see it, the poor kid was as blind as a bat without his coke-bottle glasses. "don't call me eds and get off me, you whore"

richie laughed as he rolled off, now side to side by eddie, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars they had set up a few years ago. the situation they were in was quite ridiculous. eddie had woken up with a start, only to see someone breaking into his bedroom through the window (it was on the second floor, how the fuck had they even managed to get there?) and then realizing it was only richie, his idiot friend who had fallen on top of him and was now squinting away, trying to see stupid little old plastic stars.

"hey, sorry for asking, I think I have the right to by the way, but what the hell are you doing here in my room in the middle of the fucking night?"

"what's wrong with me wanting to visit you when I feel like it?" eddie shot him a look and richie caved in. "fine, stan was pissing me off. also, my dad's home."

"oh," eddie let out without even noticing. to make it not feel awkward anymore, he added, "you can stay here until he leaves again, you know?"

"yeah, but I'll try not to, maybe he'll get mad if I'm not home. if it's too much again I'll come here instantly." richie sat up and looked into eddie's eyes. "I trust you eds, more than anyone else"

this had probably been the realest richie had ever been with eddie. he was confiding in him, which was a rare thing, richie always kept to himself, even if it killed him. those words richie had just spoken resonated within eddie, he felt important to him.

"well, that was surely interesting. one moment I'm breaking into your house, the next I'm basically pouring my heart out to you without any warning. sorry for that, eds" with that, richie stood up and instantly regretted it because his ankle made him yell in pain. he had forgotten about that. "fUCK!"

"what's wrong?"

richie then had to tell eddie all about his little escapade, since he wanted to know the exact story of how he had sprained it. eddie was shocked at the amount of resilience richie had, after all, richie had cycled the entire way to eddie's house on that ankle.

while richie was talking about his little adventure, eddie was wrapping bandages around richie's foot, who was doing a terrible job at staying still. "would you just stop fidgeting already? it's hard enough to do this as it is, I don't need you to add levels of difficulty!"

"well, my dear eds, I am a difficult person, deal with it" he dragged out the last three words with a sassy tone, making eddie roll his eyes again. dear god, if richie continued annoying him like he was at the moment, eddie's eyes will be permanently stuck looking at the inside of his head. that boy really knew how to annoy him and make him laugh at the same time and it made eddie sick to realize that he shouldn't be this close to richie, not with what he thought about him.

eddie suddenly shut down and tried to stop himself from even looking at richie because that's how you get over a crush, right? but the task was impossible, richie just drew all of eddie's attention, it was just his way of being. finally, eddie decided to accept it and let himself succumb to richie's charm.

while eddie was freaking out about richie, the boy in question was, to put it in his words, "fucking shit up". sonia kaspbrak was already fast asleep and there was no way she was going to wake up so richie decided to do whatever the fuck pleased him.

he began by putting an AC/DC vinyl on eddie's record player which was richie being "well behaved", at least it was to him.

still, that wasn't enough to get eddie's attention (who was still freaking out inside his head) so when he sat on the floor, he just had to untie eddie's shoelace (yes, eddie had put on his shoes after getting up because he didn't want his feet to get dirty), because it was in his face, basically asking to be pulled on.

that only made eddie freak out more inside but, no, he couldn't let richie have the satisfaction that he made him crack, so he remained poker-faced. since it was richie and he was dying from the lack of attention, he decided to get into eddie's bed. this was eddie's breaking point and he finally decided to go along with what richie wanted. he untied his other shoelace and took his sneakers off before getting in next to richie.

eddie was about to have a heart attack because, holy fuck, what the hell was happening — this couldn't be real, could it? richie lay there, nearly sleeping already and snuggled up to eddie. the smaller of the two had a red tint to his cheeks but the room was too dark for richie to notice.

the plastic stars let a bright green light shine off and eddie lay under them, questioning everything he had ever thought. the only thing he knew is that he was hopelessly in love with the boy hugging him under the covers.


End file.
